Ball point pen



Nov. 8, 1949 s. G. SECKERS BALL POINT PEN Filed July 26, 1947 staph an. 6.6ec/(ars arm/enter b m Clbttc wr neg Patented Nov. 8, 1949 BALL POINT. PEN

"Stephen GfSeckers, Perth Amboy, N. -J., assig-nor of one-fourth to Peter J. Gaylor, Newark, N. J.

' Application July 26, 1947, Serial No. 763,811

1 This invention deal with ballpoint pens.

In the past, pens have appeared on the market having a ball bearing tip to which is fed a thick ink paste, similar to printing ink. Such pens have a number of advantages over the previous type fountain pens, but one disadvantage which they possess is the lack of shading which eliminates some of the distinctiveness formerly found in signatures made with flexible pen nibs.

An object of the present invention is to provide a ball point pen which is capable of giving a number of various distinctive shadings to suit the writer. Other objects will become apparent from the following description and drawing.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the drawing in which Figure 1 shows a side view of a one-ball pen, partly in cross section, Figure 2 is-a side view, partly in cross section, of la two-ball pen. Figure 3 illustrates a detailed cross sectional view of the pen point as it is shown in Figure 1, while Figure 4 is a view from the outside of the pen at right angles to the view shown in Figure 3. In Figure 5 is shown a detailed cross sectional view of the pen point as it is shown in Figure 2. Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the various views.

Referring again to the drawing, numeral I represents the pen barrel having ink space 2 partially filled with ink 3, preferably of the type now employed in ball point pens. In the lower pen portion 4 is drilled hole 5 and channel 6 for feeding ink to the point. The point is mounted in head 9, the upper projecting end H of which is threaded on the outside 8 to fit threads in the inner space of lower portion 1 of the barrel section. Point head 9 is provided with recessed portion 24 into which ink is fed through hole l3. In this recessed portion is mounted ball bearing l5, forming the center section of rotating cylinder 20, which is pivoted on each side on pivots l8 and 2| projecting from the inside wall of recessed portion 24.

Cylinder 20 is free to rotate along its axis 2|--l8, While the ball I5 is free to rotate in any direction. It is preferable to employ a divided cylinder having end sections 20 and center ball section l5, all three sections being individually separable. The surfaces 22 of the end section, facing ball l5 are ground or shaped to a spherical form to fit ball l5, although provision is made to allow clearance between the ball and the end section surface so as to allow ink to be fed to the lower ball surface and the outsidesurface of the cylinder. One method for providing such means 4 Claims. (Cl. 120-42A) is touse projections 23 which extend from theend section surface so as to prevent the whole end section surface from continuously wiping the ink from the ball surface. A groove 25 may be provided in the point head to facilitate proper distribution of ink to the ball and cylinder which extend somewhat below the lower edge I9 of the point head.

According to this construction, it may be observed, therefore, that if the point is moved in the direction of the plane of the main axis of the cylinder, the cylinder will not rotate, although the ball will, and only a thin line will be drawn.

' However, if the pen is moved at right angles to this latter movement, then both the cylinder and ball will rotate, thereby producing a broad line. Hence, various shadings are possible, depending on how the pen is held and how it is moved.

Although one ball is shown in Figure 3, any number of balls may be employed, depending on the width of shading desired. For example, in Figure 5 is shown a point with two balls 33 and 34 mounted in point head 30, with cylinder end sections 36 having protruding pivots 31 resting in bearing holes in the lower shell section 28 of point head 30. A portion 28 of the shell section is removable by unscrewing screw 29 to allow removal of the cylinder and ball, although such a mounting is not necessary. For example, it is possible to divide the lower shell section 26, as in Figure 4, with slots 21 on either side of the pivot mounting. These divided sections [9 may then be spread apart to allow the cylinder and ball to drop out of the bearings, and they may be inserted by snapping the cylinder assembly in place from the bottom.

In the case of the multiple ball assembly, it is necessary to insert shaped keying pieces 35 to space the spheres. It is to be understood that the balls are mounted freely in the cylinder and the lower tips of the balls are in line with the lower cylindrical surface, so that a uniform writing surface is presented. In multiple ball as-- semblies, such as that shown in Figure 5, it is advisable to employ additional ink feed channels, such as 3| and 32.

In the mechanism herein described, the ball writes in any direction in which the pen is moved as it contacts the paper, whereas the cylinder writes only in the direction of its rotation.

A number of variations of the present invention are possible. For example, it is possible to make pivot 2| as a continuous ring around shell 11, thereby allowing cylinder 20 to rotate in the plane of its own main axis and perpendicular to 3 the axis of the pen itself. It is also possible to enclose the ball in a cylinder which is magnetized so as to facilitate assembly.

I claim:

1. In a ball point disposed in a hollow housing of a ball point pen provided with means for feeding ink to the point, the improvement comprising a small rotatable cylinder divided completely through at right angles to the axis of rotation, each so made portion having a concave recess at the end adjacent the other portion, a sphere inserted between the portions and capable of rotatingfreely between the concave recesses and projecting therebetween so that its edge is in line with the rotating edge of the cylinder, pivoting means on the free ends of the cylinder portions and housing means on the sides of the housing in which the pivoting means may be housed to allow rotation of the cylinder portions.

2. A ball point according to claim 1 in which the cylinder is divided in half, forming two portions.

3. Aball point according to claim 1 in which the surfaces of the cylinder portions facing the sphere are'provided with projections to prevent complete contact of the sphere with such surfaces.

4. A ball point pen according to claim 1 in which the cylinder is divided into more than two portions, and aball disposed between adjacent portions, the ends of said portions adjacent each ball having concave surfaces.

STEPHEN G. SECKERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 1?

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 265,885 Stoakes Oct. 10, 1882 600,299 Werner Mar. 8, 1898 890,274 Hall June 9, 1908 1,000,081 Erwin Aug. 8, 1911 1,991,355 Alexander Feb. 19, 1935 2,390,636 Biro Dec. 11, 1945 

